JHK and Duncan speak to a group of NextGen New Urbanists during the Congress for the New Urbanism held in West Palm Beach, Fla. this May 9-12. NextGen New Urbanists are young professionals participating in the New Urbanist movement. Jim asks the group to tell him what they’re up to and what’s next for New Urbanism. After a quick history of the NextGen movement, topics include: Resettle America, the Braddock PA Initiative, Tactical New Urbanism, Growing Culture and more.

Apocalypse Not, Green Wizardry and Techno-Narcissism

John Michael Greer, author of The Long Descent, The Wealth of Nature and, most recently, Apocalypse Not, joins JHK and Duncan by phone to speak about 2012 apocalypse scenarios, Green Wizardry, politics and techno narcissism. Greer explains how the 1970s were the last time that America was confronted by a major disruption in its energy supply. At the time, many Americans began exploring renewable energy and more modest living arrangements that require less energy. But that was the road not taken. And now we face what he describes as a “stairstep collapse,” like many other civilizations that have overshot their resource base. Other topics include: our modern delusions about technology, the re-enchantment of our worldview, and the potential resurgence of fraternal orders which once served as the foundation of public life in America.

A Chat With the KunstlerCast Host

In this episode, Duncan appears solo on a radio program called Relocalizing Vermont to talk about The KunstlerCast book and podcast and the influence that James Howard Kunstler has had on him. In this half-hour interview by Carl Etnier asks Duncan about the KunstlerCast came to be, why JHK always seems to rip on Amory Lovins, the Y2K thing, and other topics. A caller from Britain asks about the prospects of “re-villaging” suburbia.

Links:

Relocalizing Vermont
Thursdays 8:30 – 10:00 am
Exploring energy, food, and the local economy at the end of the age of oil
WGDR Plainfield 91.1 FM
WGDH Hardwick 91.7 FM
streaming at wgdr.org

Depicting a Landscape of Logos

JHK and Duncan are joined by Minneapolis-based cartoonist and self-described muckraker Ken Avidor, who recently illustrated the KunstlerCast book and whose artwork as been displayed on this website for years. Topics include Minnesota sprawl, the Mall of America, Avidor’s artistic influences and his opposition to the Personal Rapid Transit movement.

Painting the landscape of our time

In this rebroadcast of one of our very first podcasts, we revisit JHK’s adventures in landscape paiting. JHK’s paintings are currently hanging in two group exhibitions this sunner. Description: When James Howard Kunstler isn’t railing against suburban sprawl, he’s painting it. Vincent van Gogh painted the peasant sleeping by the haystack because he was living in a landscape populated by people. Our landscape is populated by cars. So, as a sur le motif painter of our time, Jim’s subjects include cars on the road, gas stations and the industrial ruins of America’s manufacturing past. Making this landscape legible on the canvas is a challenge, but it’s also dangerous! An angry manager once told Jim that painting the Burger King is not allowed.

[Note: this podcast has an enhanced version with images that will display as you listen along in iTunes. Or in the YouTube player below.]

Links:

JHK in Group Art Show – Gallery 668, Greenwich NY – Opening Party Sunday, August 7 from 4pm to 6pm: Gallery668.com

JHK & Andres Duany Critique the Landscape Urbanism

JHK continues his critique of Charles Waldheim’s presentation on Landscape Urbanism, delivered at the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU 19). This episode also includes remarks by New Urbanist leader Andres Duany and a listener quesion from a conferencegoer.

JHK Critiques Charles Waldheim’s Remarks

In recent years there has been a growing debate between New Urbanism and Landscape Urbanism, a theory that argues the landscape, rather than architecture, is more capable of organizing the city and enhancing the urban experience. In this episode, JHK reacts to recent remarks by Harvard Prof. Charles Waldheim on Landscape Urbanism at the Congress for the New Urbanism. In particular, Kunstler will respond to Waldheim’s claims that New Urbanism places too much emphasis on neoclassicism while not paying enough attention to environmental concerns of the 21st century.

Transitioning Away from Car Dependency

JHK gives an update on the bursting housing bubble and the fate of car dependency in America. This episode includes a short interview with Sharon Feigon, CEO of I-Go Car Sharing, and Sonya Newenhouse, president of Community Car, two professionals in the car sharing industry. Car sharing is a membership-based service that allows people to have access to a car for short periods of time so that they don’t have to own a car themselves. The practice first got its start in Europe and is now cropping up across in North America as the cost of car ownership rises and public sentiments change.

This week’s sponsor is Bjorn Bergman, who reminds you to support your local farmer and eat local this summer. With warmer temperatures in the air, it is a time for fresh local salad greens. Here is a recipe for Bjorn’s Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing that would go well on some fresh locally grown spinach, arugula, salad mix and/or mustard greens.

-Add vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and pepper to small mixing bowl and whisk together well.
-Slowly add the olive oil to the bowl while whisking (this ensures that the dressing stays emulsified or mixed).
-Add to greens right before eating.
-Makes enough dressing for about 8 oz of greens.

Note: If you would like more dressing recipes, feel free to call Bjorn at 651-276-8875.

But Prefer Suburban Style Housing

On today’s episode JHK discusses a recent poll by the National Association of Realtors which found that while many Americans claim they want to be able to walk to stores, restaurants and other urban amenities, they prefer to live in single family detached homes above all else. This seems to be a contradiction, but the arrangement could be possible through New Urbanist planning.

This week’s sponsor is The Congress for the New Urbanism, the nation’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.

A Community Design Debate

JHK and Duncan look at two new McDonald’s projects in their home towns and touch upon some universal issues with regards to these types of developments appearing throughout North America. Using the comments on a local newspaper blog, they gague how members of the community are reacting and forming a public consensus. While some people in Troy are advocating for a heightened design, others are “violently complacent” about the standard issue Mickey D’s as delivered to automobile strips around the world. Meanwhile, in Saratoga Springs, a developer did create a different take on the Golden Arches. But was the end product better?

This week’s sponsor is The Congress for the New Urbanism, the nation’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.

Suburbia is Empowered by the Numbers

The 2010 U.S. Census figures have led to a newly empowered suburban electorate. But the figures also indicate that several major U.S. cities are increasing in population at their cores. JHK offers some analysis.

This week’s sponsor is The Congress for the New Urbanism, the nation’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to promoting walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.

Keg and Eggs Riots in the U.S.

JHK and Duncan apply an urbanist lens to a recent string of drunken St. Paddy’s Parade Day riots in three U.S. cities: Newport, RI, Hoboken, NJ, and Albany, NY. Topics covered in this discussion include: monocultures, transient populations, the ghettoization of the generations, self-regulating social scenes, swarm behavior and social networking technology, Glenn Beck, open container laws in cities and The Broken Windows Theory.

Leisureville, by Andrew Blechman

Author Andrew Blechman discusses his book Leisureville, a tragicomic report on The Villages, America’s largest planned retirement community. In this version of suburbia, Blechman explains, everyone drives golf carts, last call is at 8:30, Fox News plays on the hour from the lampposts and children aren’t allowed.

This week’s sponsor is PostPeakLiving.com, offering online courses that prepare you for a post-peak world. Enroll now in the UnCrash Course, Sustainable Post-Peak Livelihoods, Navigating the Coming Chaos, Introduction to Sustainable Gardening or Chickens 101. Find out more at: http://postpeakliving.com.

JHK Visits Bay City Michigan

James Howard Kunstler explains the Tragedy of the Commons, as first described by Garrett Hardin in 1968, as how this philosophical theory relates to the public realm, suburbia, private property, commerce, environmentalism and concepts of freedom. This episode also includes a short radio story produced by MichiganNow.org featuring a walking tour by JHK in Bay City, Michigan. Special thanks to http://www.michigannow.org

JHK Travels Back in Time to Warn The American People of the Future that Awaits Them

Duncan asks JHK what he would say to the American people of 1946 if he had the means to travel back in time. What would Kunstler tell them about the suburban dream as promised to them? Would they listen?

Reacquainting With Our Relatives

James Howard Kunstler muses on the suburban family living arrangement–past, present, future. Points of discussion include: “Boomerang Kids” (a.k.a. adult children living in their parents’ home), caring for seniors, and learning to live in closer proximity to family members.

Personal Lifestyle Choices

A listener asks what other ways average folks can combat sprawl without becoming a professional urban planner. JHK shares the story of his personal choice in 1970s to leave the big city and consciously live in a small American town with a livable urban fabric.

Support for the KunstlerCast comes from Post Carbon Institute, the world’s leading think tank dedicated to getting society off fossil fuels fast. PCI is proud to have James Howard Kunstler as a valued advisor–joining Richard Heinberg, Bill McKibben, Majora Carter, Rob Hopkins and 25 other Fellows in leading the transition to a more resilient world. Learn more at http://PostCarbon.org.

Inversion of Assumed Roles

James Howard Kunstler examines the politics of place. Are the suburbs more conservative than cities? Why are people who try to conserve the historic fabric of their towns branded as radical liberals, while the agents of destruction in those towns call themselves “conservative?” What is the historical relationship between political ideas and the places where they originate from? JHK addresses these questions in today’s episode.

Today’s program is sponsored by Audible, the Internet’s leading provider of spokeword entertainment with more than 75,000 titles in every genre to chose from. For a free audiobook download and 14-day trial, sign up today at Audiblepodcast.com/kunstler

The Arguments For Suburbia

This conversation was recorded one day before James Howard Kunstler was scheduled to debate Randal O’Toole at Brown University in Providence, RI. O’Toole is a well-known advocate for the suburban living arrangement. Host Duncan Crary chats with JHK about the pro-suburbia arguments in preparation for the debate. JHK refutes some of the major arguments used by sprawl defenders, including the notions that sprawl is good because people choose it and that sprawl represents liberty. JHK also notes that while the infrastructure required to deliver suburbia is extremely subsidized with government money, many sprawl defenders argue against public transportation because it is subsidized.

[Update: You can download Randal O’Toole’s presentation from his debate with JHK on this page.]

Support for this program comes from the Congress for the New Urbanism, the nation’s leading forum dedicated to advancing urbanism and promoting alternatives to sprawl. CNU’s 18th annual Congress,”New Urbanism: Prescription for Healthy Places” will be held in Atlanta, May 19 – 22, organized with help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It will feature 90 plus sessions, tours, and immersive experiences with world’s leading thinkers and builders of good urbanism, and prominent researchers into the health impacts of how places are built, including the CDC’s Dr. Howard Frumkin, co-author of “Urban Sprawl and Public Health.” Register today, at: www.cnu18.org

Passionate Positions on Parking

James Howard Kunstler is sometimes propelled into “mad dog mode” when speaking about the modern American landscape. But tempers fly on all sides of these urban policy debates. And there are many times when the only sane response is to be angry about what we’ve done to the North American landscape over the past 50 years. In this conversation, JHK explores the heightened emotions that erupt over the issue of parking in small cities and towns. Community leaders across the country still believe that motoring and car storage will be the determining factor in everything. But JHK thinks that one day soon everyone will just wake up with a different idea, because it will be self-evident that densely conceived and executed redevelopment will be necessary.

PostPeakLiving.com, offering a new online course this April 24 led by psychologist Carolyn Baker who will teach students to deal with the emotional aspects of facing peak oil. Register today at: http://PostPeakLiving.com

Cruising Toward Collapse with a Stunning Stupidity

James Howard Kunstler believes that the Happy Motoring project is running out of time. Peak Oil and problems with alternative energy aren’t the only issues facing future motorists. He thinks that car ownership will become less democratic in the future as cars become too expensive to buy without the current financing options. Kunstler dismisses Christopher Steiner’s “$20 Per Gallon” book for assuming that an orderly procession of events will take us from $3 per gallon to $20. The conversation naturally leads to a discussion of NASCAR, which Kunstler views as a particularly pathetic reincarnation of Roman chariot races that serve to preoccupy the masses as the American empire declines. Lastly, Kunstler addresses a recent International Energy Agency scandal to coverup the reality of dwindling oil supplies.

This week’s sponsor is Chelsea Green, publisher of Waiting on a Train by James McCommons, with forward by James Howard Kunstler. Waiting on a Train is a critical look at the embattled future of passenger rail service, told by a journalist who spent one year traveling across America by train in 2008. Look for “Waiting on a Train” at your local bookstore, or visit: http://chelseagreen.com.

Additional support for this program comes from PostPeakLiving.com Additional support for this podcast comes from PostPeakLiving.com, offering online courses that prepare you for a post-peak world. Find out more at:http://postpeakliving.com

Empty Gestures, Darth Vader Windows & Porches for Leprechauns

James Howard Kunstler thinks that most modern buildings are not really architecture, they’re just manufactured boxes. Whether it’s suburban houses, or retail stores, the buildings of our everyday environment send the message that we don’t care about ourselves or our surroundings. Kunstler tackles cartoon eateries, reflective glass office buildings, and otherwise good new urban buildings that lack proper ornamentation. We hear from a listener caller in Pittsburgh at the end of the show.

This week’s sponsor is Chelsea Green, publisher of Waiting on a Train by James McCommons, with forward by James Howard Kunstler. Waiting on a Train is a critical look at the embattled future of passenger rail service, told by a journalist who spent one year traveling across America by train in 2008. Look for “Waiting on a Train” at your local bookstore, or visit: http://chelseagreen.com.

Additional support for this program comes from PostPeakLiving.com Additional support for this podcast comes from PostPeakLiving.com, offering online courses that prepare you for a post-peak world. Find out more at:http://postpeakliving.com

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Planetizen, an urban planning website and book publisher, recently conducted a poll about the Top 100 Urban Thinkers. Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, made #1 on the list. Kunstler explains the story and importance of Jacobs. He also recollects interviewing her in 2000. Although at the time Jacobs was writing a book about the coming energy crisis, Dark Age Ahead, Kunstler said she didn’t seem interested in talking about “Long Emergency” issues during their conversation. A listener caller tells us why he thinks Sesame Street is a good model for urbanism.

This week’s sponsor is Grinning Planet, providing real news in a free weekly mp3 format. Grinning Planet compiles the best audio news coverage of the week on a single page to save you time and cut through the mainstream propaganda. Listen at: http://www.grinningplanet.com/mp3-news

Provisional Civilization

James Howard Kunstler shares his thoughts on Los Angeles, California after a recent visit to Tinseltown. The motoring infrastructure of Los Angeles stretches from horizon to horizon. It is a provisional civilization in which all is subordinate to the car. However, Kunstler believes Los Angeles is more urban than people assume. He was particularly surprised by the pleasant side streets of West Hollywood. But Kunstler wonders how well Los Angeles would fare after even a minor disruption to the supply of cheap gasoline.

The Burbs are Bad for Your Health

This May, the Committee on Environmental Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics confirmed that the design of U.S. communities (i.e. car-dependent suburbia) negatively affects the health of children (i.e. makes them obese). James Howard Kunstler explores the relationship between suburban sprawl and the declining health of Americans. (Artwork courtesy of Ken Avidor)

Planning for Peak Oil

New Urbanist Planner and Author Jaime Correa speaks about urban planning in the peak oil era. KunstlerCast Host Duncan Crary recorded Correa’s talk on May 28 at the Albany Roundtable in Albany, N.Y. Correa speaks about how the end of cheap oil will affect communities in the future. He describes his peak oil action plan, which he calls The 40 Percent Plan. As urban communities begin to contract in the future, Correa has some ideas about what people need to do to successfully prepare for the future. James Howard Kunstler introduces Correa and chats with Crary about the role that Correa has played in the New Urbanism. Kunstler also responds to a question posed to him by Correa about his preparations for peak oil.

Abandoned subdivisions and population decline

James Howard Kunstler explores the topic of building traditional town centers in suburbia, where town centers are typically absent. Though it may be possible to retrofit the suburbs, Kunstler doesn’t believe that Americans will have the money to remake some of the worst suburbs into more traditional, mixed-use neighborhoods ? even if they wanted to in the first place. As more and more suburbanites find themselves unemployed, some of the more isolated housing subdivisions are simply being abandoned. In the second half of this podcast Kunstler explores the topic of future population decline in the United States. Kunstler believes that Americans will face enormous problems producing food for its population as financial problems make agribusiness increasingly expensive. Moreover, suburbia has destroyed much of America’s agricultural land, which most people wouldn’t know how to farm anyway.

Fossil Fuels and Our Built Environment

James Howard Kunstler tells the story of how he came to learn about peak oil while writing about suburban sprawl. Topics include The Yom Kippur War, The Hubbert’s Curve, the New Urbanists and the strong relationship between suburban sprawl and diminishing supplies of cheap fossil fuel. Kunstler explains the chronology and relationship between all four of his nonfiction books.

Community ownership and the diminishing role of government?

James Howard Kunstler says the notion that Americans have a long tradition of being able to do whatever they want with their land is a fallacy. This false notion is really just the result of a propaganda campaign by the promoters of suburban sprawl and the real estate industry. In reality, there is a whole corpus of responsibilities, obligations and duties that come with land ownership in America that simply can’t be ignored. Kunstler compares American attitudes toward community ownership with those in Europe.

The Ponzi Algorithms that Got us Here

James Howard Kunstler comments on the Great Bailout of 2008 and how we got into the current financial crisis. As the U.S. manufacturing economy withered away, Americans sought to gain wealth by getting something from nothing through Ponzi scheme investment algorithms. By assuming liability of bad mortgages, Congress may be in position of attempting to prop up the value suburban houses. But Kunstler believes the housing values will continue to go down, no matter what happens. And the truth is that we shouldn’t want that devaluation to stop because we need to reach a point where the median price of a house is equal to the median income of the average America. The true damage may yet to be seen. Kunstler also explains his meme that the GOP is the party that wrecked America.

Painting the landscape of our time

When James Howard Kunstler isn’t railing against suburban sprawl, he’s painting it. Vincent van Gogh painted the peasant sleeping by the haystack because he was living in a landscape populated by people. Our landscape is populated by cars. So, as a sur la motif painter of our time, Jim’s subjects include cars on the road, gas stations and the industrial ruins of America’s manufacturing past. Making this landscape legible on the canvas is a challenge, but it’s also dangerous! An angry manager once told Jim that painting the Burger King is not allowed.

Suburbia: a punishing environment for our children?

Is raising children in suburbia a form of child abuse? What happens to developing people when public space is the berm between the Wal-Mart and the K-Mart? When school looks like a maximum security “facility”? When parents are chauffeurs? James Howard Kunstler addresses these topics and speaks of his own experiences growing up in the suburbs of Long Island and in Manhattan.

Featuring: Planetizen, The Planning & Development Network

James Howard Kunstler is one of the most vocal critics of modern urban planning. So it’s only fair that in this show Jim fields some questions from the professional planning community. First off, the planners want to know how Jim answers to critics who challenge him on his lack of professional credentials in the planning and architecture fields. Next, a planning professor wants to know: what is the most important thing that cities can do to most improve the quality of the built environment? This show is the result of a special collaboration between The KunstlerCast and Planetizen, the online network for professional planners.

Parking Lagoons, Nature Band-aides & Other Kunstlerisms

When James Howard Kunstler wrote The Geography of Nowhere, it was to give people “the vocabulary to understand what’s wrong with the places they ought to know best.” In this installment we run down a few choice Kunstlerisms, like “parking lagoons” , “nature Band-Aides” and “patriotic totems.” Kunstler also tells us why the depressing topic of suburban sprawl is also really funny.

The tragic tale of zoning laws

Ya seen one town in America ya seen ’em all. But that’s because they’re all mandated to look that way! James Howard Kunstler tells the tragic story of zoning codes in the United States. At one time, zoning was a rational response to unpleasant conditions of the newly emerging industrial city. But the fanatical level to which zoning became worshiped by public officials has reduced urban planning from an art form to the mere administration of curb cuts, signage and statistical analysis of traffic flow. *Note to re-broadcasters: curse words at 8:48 mins.

Disposable architecture

James Howard Kunstler rips on drugstores: the one-story, junk food- dispensing boxes that masquerade as buildings on America’s street corners.

Topics include: monocultural zoning; big retail vs. mom & pop; separating the business programming from the container that it comes in; and the destiny of these awful structures after the cheap oil fiesta is over.